AMD Ryzen with Radeon Vega APUs now available

AMD's new desktop APUs are now finally available on retail/e-tail shelves and there are plenty of reviews around as well, showing what you get when you pair up four cores based on Zen CPU architecture with Radeon Vega-based IGP with 11 or 8 CUs.

Previously known under the Raven Ridge codename, AMD's new desktop AM4 APUs, or as AMD likes to call them, "Ryzen desktop CPUs with Radeon Vega Graphics", are made on the 14nm manufacturing process. The first SKUs that will be available are the Ryzen 3 2200G and the Ryzen 5 2400G, both quad-core parts with 2MB of L2 and 4MB of L3 cache, configurable 45-65W TDP, and support dual-channel DDR4-2933 memory.

The Ryzen 5 2400G comes with enabled SMT for eight-threads, works at the 3.6GHz base and 3.9GHz Turbo CPU clocks and features Radeon Vega 11 GPU (11 CUs) with 704 Stream Processors and a GPU clock of 1250MHz. The cheaper Ryzen 3 2200G APU lacks SMT so it is stuck with four threads, works at the 3.5GHz base and 3.7GHz CPU Turbo clocks and comes with Radeon Vega 8 IGP with 512 Stream Processors and a lower GPU clock of 1100MHz.

Aimed mostly at budget-oriented gamers as well as simple home and office systems, AMD's Ryzen desktop CPUs with Radeon Vega graphics offer significantly higher GPU performance compared to Intel's IGP and can even stand their ground with some entry level GPUs, like the Nvidia GT 1030 or the AMD RX 550.

The AMD APUs also offer impressive CPU value as prices blow Intel's Pentium G4560, Core i3-8100, or the Core i3-8350K, which are some of the most popular entry level CPUs.

Of course, these won't get you into playable FPS on those AAA games, at least not on high resolution and high graphics settings, but should be enough for casual 720p gaming in most games. Bear in mind that both the Ryzen 3 2200G and the Ryzen 5 2400G come bundled with AMD's Wraith CPU cooler.

The bad side of the story is the fact that both the CPU and the IGP performance is severely affected by the memory speed, which, combined with a high memory price, is quite an issue.

Most reviews that were published recently agree that the new Ryzen 3 2200G and Ryzen 5 2400G APUs are pretty impressive if you are looking for a good entry level PC for casual gaming and simply offer more value compared to a similarly priced Intel offer, even when combined with a dedicated GPU. You can find links for some of the reviews below.

Priced at $99 for the Ryzen 3 2200G and $169 for the Ryzen 5 2400G, these new APUs will certainly have a serious impact on the entry level market and AMD finally has a real contender to sell to that part of the market.